April 20, 2016

Season reflections --- Part 3 of 3

The Stanford
women’s basketball team entered the Pac-12 tournament in Seattle as the 4 seed.

Stanford and UCLA
had identical 14-4 conference records for third in the conference, but the
Bruins’ defeat of the Cardinal during the season led to the 4 seed.

Therefore, the
Cardinal faced 5 seed Washington
on March 4. Suffering a 73-65 loss to the Huskies, the team went home early and
empty-handed.

Junior forward
Erica “Bird” McCall scored 22 points to lead the team, followed by junior
guards Karlie Samuelson and Lili Thompson with 14 each. Freshman guard Marta
Sniezek didn’t score, but she set a tournament record with 13 assists and no
turnovers.

Easy
win over USF opens NCAA play

With a 4 seed, the
Cardinal fared far better in the NCAA tournament, hosting the first two rounds
on March 19 and 21.

In the first round,
Stanford easily defeated the 13th-seeded University of San
Francisco, 85-58.

Before the game
started, photographers clustered around head coach Tara VanDerveer as she
chatted with USF head coach Jennifer Azzi, ’90, one of Stanford’s first great
WBB players.

Starters featured
four juniors –- Bird, Lili, Karlie and guard Briana Roberson –- plus sophomore
forward Kaylee Johnson. Lili led the scoring with 17 points, followed by Bird
with 14, Kaylee with 13 and Karlie with 11.

Marta, who had been
known mainly for assists, showed more assertiveness in shooting, scoring 8
points, including a 3. Her 3 was one of the team’s eight. The others came from
Karlie and Lili with two each and from Bird, Bri and freshman forward Alanna
Smith with one each.

Stanford dominated
USF in every statistical category, especially rebounds, with a 49-22 advantage.
Bird had 10, while Kaylee had nine.

Everyone got to
play except for freshman forward/center Shannon Coffee, who was in a boot, as
she had been in recent games.

Squeaker
for Tara’s 1,000th game at Stanford

Tara issues instructions in her 1,000 game on The Farm. (Stanford Athletics)

The next game,
against South DakotaState on March 21, was Tara’s
1,000th at Stanford. Beyond the number itself, it will be memorable
for the score –- 66-65.

It took a mighty
effort in just under 5 minutes to erase an 8-point deficit against the 12th-seeded
Jackrabbits, and victory wasn’t assured until the very last second.

The final heroics
came from Lili and Bird. Lili made a driving layup to tie the game 65-65 with
8.2 seconds left. She was fouled in the process and made the free throw to put
the Cardinal ahead. SD State got off one last shot, but Bird blocked it.

It wasn’t a pretty
game. Poor free-throw shooting, 10 of 22, or 45.5 percent, nearly sabotaged the
team. SD State was more successful at the line, making 7 of 13, or 53.8
percent.

The starting lineup
remained the same as against USF, and it did most of the heavy lifting, scoring
61 points. Four bench players got into the game but made only 5 points.

Lili, Karlie and Bri celebrate the squeaker win. (Stanford Athletics)

Lili played all 40
minutes and scored 19 points. Bird had foul trouble and played 32 minutes, but
scored 20 points.

Cardinal
upsets Notre Dame in Sweet Sixteen

The win earned the
team a Sweet Sixteen berth against 1-seeded Notre Dame in Lexington, Ky.,
on March 25.

The result was a
huge upset win for Stanford, 90-84, led by Bird with 27 points, Karlie with 20,
Kaylee with 17, and Lili and Marta with 11 each.

Bird and Karlie rejoice after the Notre Dame upset.

Success beyond the
arc helped a lot with a total of 11 3’s. Karlie had five, Lili three, and Bird,
Bri and Marta one each.

Washington plays spoiler again

Washington again proved to have the knockout punch,
downing Stanford 85-76 in an Elite Eight game on March 27.

The Cardinal
couldn’t overcome a slow start, ending the first quarter with a 22-7 deficit.
During the rest of the game, Stanford bested Washington
by 4 in the second quarter, while Washington
had only 1 more in the third quarter, and Stanford had 3 more in the final
quarter.

With the outcome
clear, Tara made sure that the three seniors –-
forward/center Tess Picknell and guards Alex Green and Kiran Lakhian –- had
their final chance to play.

Lili had 19 points,
Bird 17, Karlie 12 and Marta 10.

Washington went on to the Final Four, losing to Syracuse in the semi-final game in Indianapolis.

Although it had
been an up-and-down season, the team rewrote parts of the record book. Its 211
blocks broke the Stanford record of 196 in 2001-02, and its 13 blocks against
USC on Jan. 22 matched the record set in 1989 against ASU.

Despite winning
neither the Pac-12 season nor tournament, it extended its Pac-12 record for
most 20-win seasons with 27 and advanced to the Elite Eight for the 18th
time.

Lili and Bird were
named to the All-Pac-12 team, while Karlie received honorable mention. Bird was
named to the All-Defensive team. Honorable mention went to Kaylee and Lili.

Banquet
honors team one last time

The team and fans
had one last chance to celebrate at the annual banquet April 10 in Dallmar Court.

It gave Tara a chance to thank everyone who contributed to the
team’s success in some way and to praise each player individually. Lili did not
attend the banquet.

Shannon was on crutches following recent foot
surgery.

The seniors came in
for special praise for their big contributions as practice players. They also
had a chance to speak to the crowd and give their thanks.

Kiran, Alex and
Tess each received her framed jersey with her photo and team accomplishments.

Tara expressed her hope that the returning players
would dedicate themselves to improvement before next season, starting the next
day.

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About Me

Judy reviews San Francisco Bay Area theater and writes feature articles about activities of the Stanford Women's Basketball team and Fast Break Club. A longtime Bay Area journalist, she is retired from the San Francisco Chronicle, where she was a writer and copy editor.